The hospital was eerily quiet, although, that was normal at this time of night, especially on the PEDS floor. All of the louder, younger children were asleep already, and the older ones were quietly on their phones, or asleep as well.

Amelia Shepherd had just finished checking on a few of her patients who had brain surgery, and had been transferred from the PICU to the pediatric floor. She was exhausted; her day had consisted of three tumor resections, and a craniotomy. She was praying that she could finally go home and see Owen. He had left the hospital hours ago.

It was now July. Two months had passed since their wedding, the day that had started out terribly, with her running away from the church, into the pouring rain with Maggie and Meredith, but ended with her marrying the man she loves.

Amelia flinched slightly as a hand reached out to grab her arm. She turned her head quickly, ready to fight back. Ever since the incident that had occurred in her visit to LA two weeks ago, Amelia had been more careful than ever.

"Jesus, April! You scared me," the neurosurgeon shouted at April Kepner, who was clad with her two-month old daughter, Grace, in her arms. Grace was half asleep, and dressed in a lavender colored nighttime onesie.

"I'm sorry!" April quickly apologized. "Are you busy right now?"

Amelia raised an eyebrow. "No, I was just about to go home, why?"

The redhead sighed, obviously sorry for what she was about to ask. "I hate to ask you this, but could you please watch Grace? I just got paged to the ER, and Jackson's currently in a surgery."

"What about the daycare?"

"There's a sickness going around, and I don't want Grace exposed to that. Please Amelia? I wouldn't ask if it weren't important," April's voice pleaded.

Amelia nodded her head, and took the infant from April's arms. "Thank you so much!" the trauma surgeon exclaimed, red hair flying as she quickly dashed off to the ER.

"Looks like it's just you and me, kid."

She made her way to the nursery, and sat down in the rocking chair, gently rocking the little girl back and forth. Her big, green eyes were starting to close, obviously becoming a prisoner to the ravages of sleep. Her long eyelashes fluttered slightly, before her movement stopped. She was now snoring lightly, in an adorable way. The same way that April did, actually.

Amelia stroked Grace's cheek gently, as her thoughts started to drift. She and Owen had been talking about kids ever since their wedding. They both agreed that they wanted them, and at some point they were going to happen. But, Amelia was scared.

The last time she'd had a child, he had died 43 minutes after he was born. Daniel Ryan Shepherd, her perfect little prince. To outsiders, he just looked like a lost cause. But to Amelia, he was the most beautiful child she had ever seen. His little button nose, his perfectly carved lips. He was the most beautiful child she'd ever seen, and if she had another baby, she would no longer be able to say that. Then, the guilt would slowly, but surely seep in.

The small brunette blinked a few times, and lifted from her daze. She looked up at the clock on the wall, and gasped slightly when she realized it was now 11:18 PM. She had been sitting there for half an hour, but it had felt as though no time passed at all. Amelia looked to the doorway, to see a PEDS nurse, dressed in pink scrubs, coming in to check on the infants. She didn't want to just pass Grace off to the woman, but she knew this nurse. Her name was Sasha; she was in her mid-twenties, with a smile always present on her face, and some sort of elaborate braid in her hair.

"Sasha?" She spoke gently, so she wouldn't wake Grace and all of the other tightly wrapped bundles in the room.

The young blonde woman turned around, that perky smile still on her face. "Yes Dr. Shepherd?" Her voice oozed with joy.

It was nice to see some happiness in this place every once and awhile, but sometimes Sasha overdid it.

"Could you take little Grace here? My shift just ended, and I would really like to be able to go home and see my husband sometime soon. Dr. Kepner and Dr. Avery are both in surgery right now, but one of them will probably be down here the minute they get out," Without even waiting for an answer, Amelia transferred the infant from her arms to Sasha's. She kissed her on the top of the forehead, and walked out of the room, eager to finally change out of her scrubs.

Owen and Amelia were named Grace Scarlett Kepner Avery's godparents after much consideration and debate between April and Jackson. Amelia loved that little girl so much, that it hurt to just walk away. But, she also loved her husband.

The attending's locker-room was empty, not at all surprising Amelia. She peeled off her scrubs and shoved them in her bag, also stopping to hang her lab-coat up. She stood there exposed, in only a plain bra and underwear pair. For a minute she debated; to shower or not to shower? Eventually it was concluded that she would just shower at home. Maybe Owen would join her. A grey t-shirt made its way over her head, and dark leggings found a home fitting snugly against her hips. After she looked presentable enough to leave, she exited the lounge, and pressed the down button by the elevator. An ebullient ding sounded after a few moments, and the doors flew open.

The hospital lobby was the only part of the complex that stayed alive (minus the ER) at this time of night. It was bustling with people, most of whom were pacing, probably anticipating bad news, or sitting in the stiff waiting room chairs, biting their fingernails down to stubs. A few fellow doctors, along with some nurses said goodbye, and she replied to all of them with a smile and a 'you too.' It wasn't until Maggie Pierce almost ran her down in the parking lot, that she realized she was dazing off again while walking.

From inside the car, Amelia could see a wide eyed Maggie mouthing "I'm so sorry!", and a stern faced Meredith turned towards her saying, "I'm never letting you drive my car again."

Amelia herself was spooked by the incident, so she went to the passenger's side of the vehicle, while Meredith rolled down her window.

"Ferris Bueller over here got a little too carried away with the gas pedal-"

"Amelia, I am so sorry. You're tiny, I didn't see you," Maggie quickly stuttered, trying to make the situation better than it was.

A chuckle escaped Amelia's throat, as she waved it off. "Hey, it's not like it's the first time it's happened," she thought back to the time she had been clipped by a minivan when she was addicted to running, after she had gotten out of rehab for the first time.

The three made small talk for a few more minutes, inconveniently blocking everyone else in the parking lot that wanted to leave. But, they didn't care. They were just enjoying one another's company. Ever since Amelia had moved in with Owen, and the whole incident with Meredith, Maggie and Riggs had occurred, there was obviously a change in their relationship. It seemed as though they were no longer the Sister Lady Chiefs.

"Alright, well we should probably go, Arizona is stuck at home watching all of the kids. You and Owen should come over for dinner sometime this week!" Maggie exclaimed. It was a sentence that would be way too full of happiness to come out of Meredith's mouth.

Amelia nodded, and agreed that it was a good idea. She would check with Owen, but chances were that he would probably say yes.

"Oh, and don't forget about tomorrow."

Amelia raised an eyebrow. "Tomorrow?" She hadn't remembered making any plans with anyone tomorrow, but maybe she had and she had just accidentally forgotten.

"New interns." Meredith smiled, and rolled up her window, as Maggie started to drive out of the lot. It appeared that Meredith had already forgotten her vow to never let her sister drive her car again.

Ten minutes later, Amelia was pulling into the driveway of her home, not far from the hospital. Owen had bought a nice little blue house, with a white picket fence and a big backyard. It was, coincidentally, also in the best school district in Seattle.

She parked the car, and stepped out of it, being greeted only by the streetlights. There were no lights on in the house, so she figured Owen must already have been asleep. Amelia put the keys into the lock, and opened the door. She was instantly greeted by their dog, Lulu, who showed her affection for her female owner by jumping on her legs, causing light brown hair to become embedded in the fabric of her pants.

"Hey Lu!" Amelia half whispered, in case Owen really was asleep like she thought. He was a heavy sleeper, but she still didn't want to risk waking him up. They couldn't even eat lunch together that day, because the ER was so busy that the redhead didn't have a second to spare. He deserved some rest.

Once the dog's water bowl was filled, Amelia headed upstairs to get ready for bed. Slowly, her feet hit the floor, as she tried to keep the floorboards from creaking. It was a success, and after about thirty seconds of acting out a scene from Tom and Jerry, she made it to her and Owen's bedroom. The door was half open, so she made sure to shut it once she was in the room. There were no lights on, but she could see the faint outline of her husband lying on the bed, fast asleep. His hand was resting by his face, and he smiled slightly while he slept, which Amelia found to be adorable.

She kept walking through the dark room, and eventually made her way to the bathroom that connected to her and Owen's bedroom. Once her clothes were carelessly thrown on the ground, she climbed into the scalding hot shower. First Amelia washed her hair, before lathering her body with some sort of vanilla scented soap. It was the smell that she was known for. Once again her emotions were cleansed from her pores, all the unshed tears being washed down the drain.

Her baby.

Not Daniel, but a baby she'd had before him. A perfectly healthy little girl, who had brown hair, and the widest blue eyes.

The coffee shop had a distinct smell. It smelt like cinnamon, and all the parts of Spring that were still left. Her eyes burned into the glaring screen in front of her, hungry for answers. It was only about 6 AM in Los Angeles, and Amelia had bolted out the door this morning before anyone had time to question her. It had been a week and a half since the death of her son. She had decided to take a month off of work, which everyone assumed was for grieving the death of her child, which it was. But, it was also going to be used for her to try and find her daughter.

After Daniel's death, all she felt was guilt. Guilt that she couldn't protect him from the bad things in the world like life threatening conditions, or dead parents. Guilt that her baby had died, and there was nothing she could have done to save him. Guilt because eighteen years ago, she had given her first baby up.

Amelia remembered the morning that her daughter finally decided to grace the world with her presence. It was a cool, Autumn day in New York. Her mother had taken her to the hospital, once her water had broken, and then she had her, and handed her off to a lovely blonde couple. The adoption was closed, and for good reason. Amelia knew that if she knew her daughter's name, or where she lived, she would go looking. And she was definitely not fit to be a parent at sixteen, combined with being newly sober.

But then, her fingers were flying across the keyboard, and she was typing in the name of the woman that had adopted her daughter.

"Rachel Young."

There were a lot more Rachel Young's in the world then one might have thought. She spent a good twenty minutes looking through Facebook pages for a picture of the woman, and she was about to give up when she finally found her. Her page said that she was a lawyer, and had attended Harvard. That was good. At least her daughter wasn't living in a box on the street.

Her best bet for finding anything out about her daughter, would be to find her Facebook page, if she had one. Amelia started to go through Rachel's photos, and everything seemed normal. There was a picture of her holding a small blonde boy, captioned with "Happy Birthday to my little rugrat!" It was a faded picture, so it must have been some sort of ode to his childhood. There was a picture of herself and her husband at a candlelit dinner, in some sort of fancy restaurant. Neither of the adults were focused on the camera; they were laughing at something that had just been said, and were obviously enjoying themselves. Finally, after scrolling and scrolling, she came to a picture that she knew was her. In the photo, was a brunette teenage girl kneeling on the grass. She had shorts and a tank top on, and a bandana tied in her hair. She was holding dirt covered hands up at the camera, while smiling widely. The caption was, "My little garden helper :)". There was a tag on the picture, so Amelia clicked on it, and was led to a new page.

It was titled "Harper Young," and said that she went to Lincoln High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Amelia smiled. The girl looked so much like herself. They both had dark brown hair, blue eyes, and dimples. Harper was small, and had a smile that looked as though it could stop wars. There were lots of pictures on her page. Pictures of family vacations, birthdays. Pictures of her with her friends, and one of her at prom in a beautiful, red gown, being held, bridal style, in the arms of a boy who looked dashingly handsome in his black and white suit.

Then, Amelia did something incredibly stupid and impulsive.

She bought a plane ticket for the next flight out to Pittsburgh.

When she got back to the beach house to pack her suitcase, nobody was there luckily. Everyone was already at the practice by this time. It was now seven o'clock, the time that the practice's doors opened. The only person that would ever dare be late was Amelia, and she currently had time off, so that wasn't a problem.

Only the necessities were thrown into the black bag; toothbrush, a few changes of clothes, a hairbrush. Amelia didn't exactly know what she was going to do once she got there, but she knew she was going to see her daughter.

Seven hours later, she was standing in the middle of the Pittsburgh International Airport, wheeling her suitcase behind her. Then she was in the backseat of a taxi, and then a crappy hotel room. She didn't sleep well that night; she had gotten phone calls from Addison, Sheldon, and Charlotte, all asking where she was. Amelia had simply told them that she was out East, and she needed to disappear for a while, but that she would be back, and she was fine. The lie had easily rolled off her tongue, and when all of the doctor's finally hung up, that was when she cried herself to sleep.

The next morning was warm and bright. Amelia had showered, and walked to a little café close to her hotel for breakfast.

She rented a car, and drove around for a while, almost completely emptying out the gas tank. When the brunette finally glanced at the car's digital clock, it showed that it was noon. Lunchtime. That would be the best time to go to the high school; Harper would have free time, so maybe she could pull her away from her friends for a few minutes so they could talk.

Her GPS directed her towards a large brick building. The car was parked, and she was walking on the pavement in front of the school, her heeled boots clacking with every step. She was confused as to why she could hear voices; until she turned her attention to the courtyard in the back.

Kids littered the vast, grassy space, some eating, some talking to their friends, and some doing a combination of both.

Amelia's blue eyes lingered over all the students, searching for the familiar girl she had seen in the photos online. They eventually landed on one student in particular.

She was standing with a group of four other people. A tall blonde haired girl, a girl with fiery orange hair, a short boy with kind eyes, and a very muscular brunette boy, who currently had his arm around her shoulders. The muscular one was the same boy from the prom photo, Amelia could recognize him very easily. Then, there was her daughter.

She was wearing cuffed jeans and a maroon t-shirt. Her hair was in a simple side braid, and her head was thrown back in laughter at something that had just been said.

Suddenly, it was as if everything was in slow motion. Harper's laughter, the teenagers chasing each other around like five-year old's, the muscular boy kissing the top of Harper's forehead. A smile was brought to Amelia's face, one that rarely came out anymore, and she knew. She knew that this was not her place. She didn't want to mess up that beaming girl's happiness, she knew that now. She had seen her, and maybe that was enough. Maybe it had to be.

So Amelia turned around, got in the car, and drove back to the hotel so she could gather her things, and go home.

A/N: yay! Chapter one is finally up! I definitely went through the ringer writing this one. I originally had it fully written and saved, but when I went to go open the document up again, it hadn't saved. So basically I had to rewrite the whole chapter. I could remember most of what I said, but I couldn't remember the exact wording of things, so it might seem a little off. I know i said that the chapters would be a lot longer, and that was the original plan. But, I realized that I won't have time to write 8,000 word chapters once school starts. I'm really going to try and focus on my grades this year. Anyways... hope you guys enjoyed! Please FOLLOW, FAVORITE, AND REVIEW!